


Friction

by zarabithia



Category: Captain America, Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: M/M, Mentor/Sidekick, Merry Month of Masturbation, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-30
Updated: 2011-05-30
Packaged: 2017-10-19 22:23:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharing a tent isn't new, but some of the feelings are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ceroate (cero_ate)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cero_ate/gifts).



Steve's not supposed to notice.

That's the gentlemanly thing to do. Steve has been in cramped living quarters before, and he knows the rules about not paying attention to what's going on in the bedding barely a foot away. Even when the quarters hadn't been so cramped, a paper thin wall did little to lessen the sounds.

The war's no different. War takes hard enough of a toll on a man, without expecting him to go the entire time without any release. Even the army knows that much; Steve remembers the clipped tones and embarrassed discussions about Venereal Diseases from his Fort Lehigh days, and the rather pointed commentary that there are other ways to find release than with another body.

Men try to be discreet, and that certainly includes the man lying two arms' lengths away from Steve. The polite thing is to turn over, listen to the rain pounding against the outside of the tent, and pretend that the super-soldier serum enhanced hearing doesn't make each of Bucky's grunts painfully obvious.

 _Painful_ , yes, because Steve's body is responding to his partner's pleased cries, no matter how many times Bucky bites down on his lip to muffle the sounds. Steve can't - won't - touch himself. It would be wrong to take advantage of the situation or of Bucky's trust in order to gain quick relief.

But for a moment, Steve closes his eyes and listens, memorizing every gasp, while his mind replays the exact look of Bucky's costume and hair, along with the way that both look when drenched with rain.

Or sweat.

The bedding next to him shakes, as Bucky's movements grow more frenzied. Steve forces his hands to remain still, while he memorizes those sounds and the _feel_ of Bucky moving next to him.

There are always solo missions, Steve tells himself. The war is full of them, and when they come around again and Bucky is no longer at his side - then Steve will be able to take the relief he craves.

\----

Bucky doesn't know, exactly, when things changed.

Cap's always been a great guy. Bucky's always been willing to deliver a good punch to anyone dumb enough to argue that point to Bucky's face.

But there's a difference in always having his partner's back, and in wanting what Bucky wants these days. He supposes maybe it was inevitable; all the pretty dames they come across get that same lovestruck look every time they see Steve, whether they're good or evil.

Bucky sure hopes he doesn't ever get that look.

But if Steve can make a Nazi spy fall in love with him, what chance has Bucky ever had? Maybe the slow, dizzy feeling that he gets in his gut every time he lies next to Steve these days has always been inevitable. Maybe the same can be said for the growing jealousy that Bucky can't quite shake every time he sees Steve sketching a pic of the pretty little agent he left back in France.

But leaving his life up to fate is a cowardly and lazy way out, and it makes Bucky scowl in the darkness of the tent, and strain harder against his hand. He bites down, hard, on his lip, but the friction, and the lack of any release for the past two weeks builds up and makes it hard to be silent.

Steve, of course, is quiet. Quiet as a dead mouse, and that just makes Bucky feel all the guiltier about what he's thinking of.

In the beginning, when the growing horror of what Bucky wanted began to sink in, Bucky tried not to think about Steve with the man lying right next to him. Sometimes, he still gives it his best shot. Sometimes, he starts out thinking about Toro's shaky hands and firm mouth. It's a good image and it can get him going, no problem. But it's a broader chest and steadier hands that get Bucky to finish.

He's never as quiet as he wants to be, or as still. Once or twice, he's even brushed up against Steve. Once or twice, it's even been unintentional.

But Steve never moves and never reacts to what Bucky is doing.

Bucky worries sometimes, about what that reaction would be. But anything would be better than _nothing_ , and Bucky can't shake the hope that someday Steve will actually _notice.  
_


End file.
